I spent two stunningly beautiful days in Rome this week. I love Rome; it is one of my favourite cities in the entire world, but I thought I would open this entry by speaking about light.
Each place has its own feel. That feel is related to several factors but, in my opinion, the most important factors are the ones that affect the senses directly. For example, despite being one of the most visually interesting cities in the world, what strikes everyone about Dubai is the heat and humidity of the air. When remembering Dubai the sense of touch trumps all other characteristics as the most memorable. A similar sensation phenomenon is experienced in Sana’a in the Yemen. What I remember most about Sana’a is the smell. Camel dung is frequently used to supply fires and heat in the areas surrounding the airport and there is a desert smell to the place that permeates the air. The smell isn’t unpleasant but it is prevalent and it sticks in my mind as much as it hangs in the air. My memories of New York City include a soundtrack of traffic noise. The low rumble of traffic noise is ubiquitous virtually 24-hours a day. So, the sense of hearing is one of the most important to my memories of New York City. Similarly, I remember the spicy taste of food in Mexico City.
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| Roman Era Theatre in Athens -- Too Bright for Bill |
For a few very select places, however, it is the quality of the light that I remember most. London is a city where light is extremely important to my memories. The soft light of summer is replaced by the murkiness of low light in the winter months. Athens is at the opposite end of the light spectrum compared to London. Athens has a bright incandescent light that is intensified by the reflection of white marble on the Acropolis. I have a Greek acquaintance who is a Producer and Director of Theatre in Athens. He was asked to stage Macbeth at the Roman era Acropolis theatre for the 2004 Olympic Games. The Producer refused the honour of staging Macbeth by telling the organizers, “I cannot stage a play like Macbeth in the sunshine of Athens! Macbeth requires the shadows of late afternoon London. I couldn’t even stage ‘A Mid Summer’s Night Dream’ because ‘Night’ is in the name...” The Producer was passed over for another who apparently did not share the same qualms. I bring this up, because Rome is another city where I remember the quality of the light. At the best times of the year, the skies in Rome are the most perfect colour of blue I have ever seen. Other places have blue skies, but not the deep perfect azure of Rome. For the two days I was in Rome this past week, the days were warm, the nights were nearly perfect and the skies were the startling blue that stirs my memories. These blue skies give a magical feel to Rome that adds to the positive feelings that I always have about visiting the “Eternal City”.
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| Rome Perfectly Depicted |
“La Dolce Vita” (“the Beautiful Life”) is how Federico Fellini described life in Rome. I fundamentally agree with his characterisation. Of course, Rome – like any other city – offers hassles and inconveniences that range from brutal traffic jams to dodgy scam artist beggars on its streets. None the less, Rome has a vibrancy that belies its ancient structure. Romans live with the past each day. It literally surrounds them. As I walk on any street in Rome, I find gems of the ancient republic and empire. I once had a meeting in a glorious old building close to Trajan’s Forum downtown. The building was probably 150 – 250 years old. As we walked down the corridor toward the meeting room I noticed that the building was built around a central courtyard that had the stunning ruins of an ancient temple of Cybele. There was no way that I would have seen the temple except due to the serendipity of having a meeting in this building. There was nothing on the outside of the building to indicate the hidden gem nor was there any street access to the courtyard. So this ruined temple was the personal domain of the owners and tenants of the building. These ruins are simply typical of Rome. On Thursday evening, I took a taxi from the Sheraton Golf, which lies outside downtown to dinner with friends in the city. The taxi driver took a slightly different route than normal and instead of passing the Forum Romanum we passed through a slightly different part of the ancient city. At a stop light we were next to the Laternense obelisk erected in honour of Constantine the Great in CE 357. I had seen pictures of the obelisk before and I knew that it actually had been brought from the temple of Karnak in Egypt and was ancient at the time that it was erected, but I had never seen it up close. The Laternense obelisk is the tallest in Rome and the largest standing Egyptian obelisk in the world. On Thursday evening, I was ten meters (35 feet) from the obelisk and was able to silently translate the inscription before the light changed and we proceeded on to the restaurant. On the way back to the hotel, my taxi skirted the Forum of Trajan, the Coliseum, Titus’ Arch, the Domus Aurea (palace built by Nero) and the Baths of Caracalla in about five minutes.
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| The Laternense Obelisk |
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| An Art Work Last Week Made the Coliseum Look Like it Was Burning |
By the way, here are few quick facts about ancient Rome. First of all, the Coliseum is not named after its colossal size. In fact, the formal name (translated) of the Coliseum is the Flavian Amphitheatre and it is named after its builder Titus Flavius Vespasianus (“Vespasian”) who became Emperor in CE 69. The name “Coliseum” is derived from a colossal statue of the emperor Nero that formerly stood in front of the current building. This enormous statue had been erected by Nero in imitation of the colossal statue of Athena that used to grace the inside of the Parthenon in Athens. So, the Flavian Amphitheatre was at the site of the colossal statue of Nero and was thus nicknamed by its area; the “Coliseum”. The Coliseum itself stands on the site of an ornamental lake that was built by Nero as part of his palace, the Domus Aurea (the “Golden House”). Of course, there is the story that “Nero fiddled while Rome burnt”. After the great fire in Rome in CE 64, Nero began building an enormous palace on the area cleared by the fire. He called the palace the Golden House and, upon moving in to the enormous facility, he was reported to have said, “Finally! I can live like a human being!” When Vespasian became emperor in CE 69 – a year where there had been four emperors (i.e. Otho, Galba, Vitellius and then Vespasian) – he had the Domus Aurea mostly pulled down and the lands rededicated to public areas. He further had the private ornamental lake drained and the Amphitheatre built and dedicated to the citizens of Rome. Nero, by the way, was the first emperor to martyr Christians. In order to deflect suspicion that he had intentionally started the fire to clear the area for the Domus Aurea, Nero blamed a little known and secretive cult as the perpetrators of the fire. In punishment, he had known Christians soaked in tar and then burned alive to provide torches for his palace gardens.
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| Trajan's Column |
My favourite spot in Rome, however, is Trajan’s Column. Trajan’s Column sits at the western end of Trajan’s Forum and was erected in CE 113. I find this column fascinating for many reasons. First, the column is a beautiful work of art. It is about 30 meters (98 feet) tall and a spiral bas relief describes the epic story of Trajan’s conquering of the Dacian Empire which borders the Black Sea in what is modern Romania and Bulgaria. It is sculpted in pure white Carrara marble and spiral frieze circles the column 23 times from the bottom to the top. While I love the beauty of the column, I also admire the value of the propaganda that the column produced. The Dacian War had been ruinously expensive to Rome and much of the land would be lost to other invaders within the next five decades. None the less, the Dacian Wars brought fame to Trajan and the “grateful” Senate and people of Rome erected the column in tribute to their emperor. As I gazed up at the column a few days ago, I wondered if the “grateful” citizens of America would be erecting a tribute to George W. Bush for the invasion of Iraq. Another reason why I like the column is because it was co-opted later by the Catholic Church when, in CE 1587, the statue of Trajan at its top was changed for the current statue of St. Peter on the orders of Pope Sixtus V (by the way, what a cool name ... “Hi, my name is Sixtus the Fifth...”). The main reason, however, that impresses me about the column is its longevity. This column has stood in the same location for nearly 1900 years. It has withstood prosperity and decline, wars and peace, happiness and sadness, and comfort and pestilence without losing its grandeur. There is nothing else in Rome of which I am aware which has remained this unchanged since ancient times. I have spent hours studying the column and I feel like it is my private place – even if it is visited by thousands of tourists each day.
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| The Pantheon is Too Cool! |
Another huge favourite of mine is the Pantheon. Again, there are many reasons why I love the Pantheon. First, the Pantheon is an architectural wonder. It has the largest un-reinforced concrete dome in the world to this day! The engineering is so perfect that it would be very hard to replicate using modern methods and yet it was built in its current form in CE 126. The dome has no keystone. In fact, the keystone has been replaced by an oculus, a round hole that lets light into the building. The oculus is one of the coolest characteristics about the building and is its only window. Throughout the day, the oculus lets in light in a long shaft from the ceiling that makes an oval on the floor that travels around the room like a clock. The oculus lights up alcoves in the walls that used to house statues of various gods. The Pantheon was a temple for all of the Gods and obtained its name from the two Greek words Pan (meaning “all”) and Theos (meaning “Gods”). Inside, the Pantheon is visually stunning because of several different colours of marble that decorate every surface. On the Greek style pediment in the front of the Pantheon is the famous inscription, “M. Agrippa Cos Tertium Fecit” (“Marcus Agrippa Made This the Third Time”). Agrippa was the most famous general of the first emperor Augustus and was also Augustus’ son-in-law. The Pantheon exists today because it was converted into a Christian cathedral in CE 609. It sits on the ancient Campus Martius which was outside of the city precinct of Rome but was where the army mustered and where elections were held. Today a beautiful plaza (the Piazza del Rotunda) sits in front of the Pantheon and I am amused by the fact that the square holds a MacDonald’s restaurant.
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| Pantheon MacDonald's - "Can I have the McMartyr, please?" |
Romans live with this plethora of history each day to the extent that they have never seen many of the city’s famous sites. I discussed this phenomenon with my friends over dinner. “If you live close to the mountains, you lose sight of the mountains ... the same if you live by the sea. It is a shame, however, that you don’t see some of the spectacular works of art and history that are beside you every day,” I opined. To which one of my friends replied, “For us, the sites will always be present so we put off until tomorrow what we don’t have time to see today.” I mentioned to these same friends that I wouldn’t mind visiting Monte Testaccio to have dinner. They were surprised but positive about a visit in the near future. Monte Testaccio is a little off the beaten tourist track but is best known for many good Roman tavernas and restaurants cut into a mountain of pot shards – essentially trash. Monte Testaccio is the ancient trash dump of Rome which produced so much rubbish that it became a mountain. I happened to travel past it once when a taxi driver took me the wrong way toward a hotel close to our office in Rome on the Via Appia – the world famous “Appian Way”. Suddenly, we were driving on the ancient Via Appia, which is rough and bumpy as hell, but is still used as a road through that part of the city. We passed the Monte Testaccio and I couldn’t believe its size or the fact that it is now pretty much a relaxation district. We had dinner near that area that night and the owner took us to see his wine cellar which is of ancient origin. In little nooks and crevices, the owner’s ancestors had secreted models of Brunello, Barbaresco and similar wines. Entering the cellar was like entering an ancient treasure vault.
I have the greatest affection for Rome. It is a very liveable city, which probably explains why it has lasted for nearly 2,800 years (Rome was traditionally founded in BCE 753). I will tell one last favourite story about Rome before proceeding with the remainder of the blog because I believe that it explains much about the attitude of Romans. Lucius Tarquinus Superbus (“Tarquin”) was the seventh and last king of Rome before the rise of the Roman Republic. One day, the Cumaean Sybil, an ancient oracle from Cumae near Naples, disguised herself as an elderly woman and approached the court of Tarquin offering to sell nine books to Tarquin for the exorbitant amount of a full bushel of gold. Tarquin refused, so the Sybil burnt three of the books. Again she offered to sell the remaining six books for a full bushel of gold. This time Tarquin asked, “What are these precious books?” to which the Sybil replied, “They are the oracles of the fate of your city until its collapse.” Tarquin expressed his doubt about the validity of the oracles, so the Sybil burnt a further three volumes of the books and offered the last three to Tarquin again for the price of a full bushel of gold, which Tarquin finally paid. The Sibylline Books of Prophesy would be consulted by the rulers of Rome for hundreds of years at times of the greatest stress on the city until CE 405 when Stilicho, a Christian, burnt the books as pagan right before Rome was invaded by the Visigoths in CE 410 – an event that was prophesized by the Sibylline Books. I like this story because it reminds me of the Roman approach to life. Romans are sceptical by nature, always looking for a good deal, but will ultimately pay astronomically for something that they want.
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| Hotel Art is Cool |
Where to Stay: I generally stay at the Sheraton Golf outside of the City because it is close to the airport and the clients with which I meet. I would not stay there, however, if I were visiting Rome on pleasure. I prefer hotels like the “Hotel Art by the Piazza Di Spagna” which has modern architecture with a neo-classical twist. The Majestic Hotel on Via Veneto is the classic resident of the denizens of La Dolce Vita. One of my favourite hotels right off the Via Veneto and close to Harry’s Bar is the Hotel Eden which has the most spectacular view of Rome from its rooftop terrace.
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| We Sat Outside at the Majestic |
Where to Eat: We had a great dinner a few nights ago at the restaurant at the Hotel Majestic. The restaurant has a celebrity Sicilian chef whose creations are excellent. I also like Restaurante Trattoria close to the Pantheon. This is also a Sicilian restaurant and the ambiance is modern, clean and cool. Every piazza in Rome has excellent al fresco restaurants serving traditional and even gourmet specialities. As mentioned before, the terraza at the Hotel Eden has a fantastic view of Rome and also excellent food and wines. It is the only place in Rome that I know of where the Coliseum, the Forum Romanum, the Vatican, the Baths of Caracalla, and the ancient walls of Rome can be viewed from a single panoramic view.
Where to Party: My favourite bar is Harry’s Bar on Via Veneto. This bar has been famous since the end of World War II and still has the most excellent range of cocktails in Rome. It is right at the end of Via Veneto and is a great place to stop after a day of shopping. I like the lime daiquiris made with half sugar and double rum. The taverns and bars at the Monte Testaccio are cool and frequented by locals. My friends tell me that the area right off the Via Veneto by the Majestic Hotel is where Romans are partying today.
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| Harry's Bar -- Old Style Cool on the Via Veneto |
Where to Shop: There is no better place in Rome to shop than Via Veneto. In fact, I think that Via Veneto is one of the best places in Europe to shop.
Travel Plans:
While I’m in London now, I’ll be moving on tomorrow. For the next two weeks I’m going to be travelling throughout Africa and the Middle East:
* Sunday, 26 September 2010: London
* Monday, 27 September 2010: London - Beirut
* Tuesday, 28 September 2010: Beirut
* Wednesday, 29 September 2010: Beirut
* Thursday, 30 September 2010: Beirut
* Friday, 1 October 2010: Beirut – Cyprus
* Saturday, 2 October 2010: Cyprus – home for the weekend
* Sunday, 3 October 2010: Cyprus
* Monday, 4 October 2010: Dubai – Johannesburg
* Tuesday, 5 October 2010: Johannesburg
* Wednesday, 6 October 2010: Johannesburg – Addis Ababa
* Thursday, 7 October 2010: Addis Ababa – Dubai – Istanbul
* Friday, 8 October 2010: Istanbul – Athens
* Saturday, 9 October 2010: Athens - Cyprus
As usual, these plans are subject to change …
Rant:
Why is it that I always seem to leave something important at almost every hotel that I visit? Last week, I left the charger and power cord to my new laptop in Abu Dhabi. I have left razors, eBooks, suits and various other items in hotels. I once left a Gucci suitcase in Bogota which I never recovered. Generally, this is just an inconvenience as the hotel normally keeps the items for me until I return. Sometimes, however, I have left something important that I cannot replace easily. I once left my passport at a hotel in Dubai. When I checked into the hotel, I was required to leave my passport at the counter. I reluctantly complied since I have two U.S. Passports. When I checked out, the desk clerk did not alert me to the left passport and I did not think about it before riding in a car between Dubai and Abu Dhabi to catch a flight. At the airport in Abu Dhabi I realized the mistake and had no choice but to return to Dubai missing my flight and several important business meetings.
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| "Ya done left me like a bad woman!" |
A friend of mine once left his wallet and several hundred dollars in cash in a safe in a hotel in Brazil. When he returned to the hotel the wallet and money were gone. When he complained to the management, the cleaner was summoned and she confessed that she had taken the items from the safe because my friend had left the hotel. When asked why she had not turned in the items to security, she replied, “I thought it was a tip left for me.” My friend was incredulous, “OK, maybe you thought $800 was a tip, but my credit cards, driver’s license and medical insurance card were also a tip??!!” Rosa recently lost a diamond tennis bracelet somewhere on the grounds of a hotel in Abu Dhabi. The bracelet was worth about many trhousands of dollars so police were called and the room was turned over, but no bracelet was found. That is the largest single loss we have ever experienced. Rosa was devastated, but I like to believe that the person who found the bracelet put it to charitable use. I have no evidence for this, but it makes me feel better about the loss.
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| Endowing a School and Hospital -- I hope! |
Leaving something like a laptop charger means that I have to run around to various stores to replace the item. This is always a hassle and I normally leave it to the last possible minute to make the purchase before the loss of the item becomes critical. This is in my nature... or maybe it is in the nature of all men. As a boy, I would always wait until the last possible minute to urinate – the point at which I was about to explode. In a hotel, I always pack in a hurry right before vacating the room to catch a flight. In any event, I sometimes wonder if I leave a lot of items that I do not even remember because the items were unimportant. Maybe the only ones I remember are the ones that are critical and a hassle to replace.
Of course, maybe I shouldn’t procrastinate about packing and take more time. I might lose fewer critical items. Do I think this will happen? Answer: “Nah ...”, but I do have to take a pee.
Humour Section:
I’m not going to write a humour section today. Instead, I’m going to suggest that each of the readers take a few minutes to find and read Mark Twain’s “On the Decay of the Art of Lying”. This is a humorous and still very insightful and accurate look at lying. It is by-lined as
“ESSAY, FOR DISCUSSION, READ AT A MEETING OF THE HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN CLUB OF HARTFORD, AND OFFERED FOR THE THIRTY-DOLLAR PRIZE.[*]
[*] Did not take the prize.”
The essay is short (shorter than this blog entry) and is razor sharp.
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| Mark Twain - Still the Master |
Last Blast:
Many of my friends know that I am very interested in ancient history. I enjoy reading original sources and I always have one or two history books under study at any given time. Some may feel that this is a waste of time, but I find the reading of history to be very helpful in my work. Of course, there is a lot of memorization, which is not very useful but the critical reading of history is a great aid to understanding cultures and thus to improving my negotiation skills.
Most of my clients are impressed if I know the arcane history of their region and this is a pleasant and safe diversion of which to speak at a dinner or lunch. But the importance of history goes beyond that. The study of history is known as “Historiography”. I studied this in university and the lessons never left me. The theories of Historiography relate that everyone puts their own point of view into anything that they say or write. Even when a historian is trying to be perfectly objective, his cultural biases will permeate his writing and this can be uncovered with careful observation. The underlying biases can be viewed in the facts and incidents that are recorded and also in the language that is used. For example, ancient writers almost never wrote about the common life of everyday people. The ancient writers wrote about the famous or infamous personages. This is known in Historiography as “the hero in history”. Social historians since the middle of the Nineteenth Century wrote about cultural forces that impact the world events. This trend was started by historians like Karl Marx.
So, how does this help me in my work? I listen carefully to the words that are used by my clients in order to obtain hidden clues to their thought processes. Similarly, I read reports and try to determine the point of view of the writer of the report. Generally, these biases are generally right on the surface if I look beyond my own biases. So, I will continue to read history and I will try to apply the lessons to my work.
So, in honour of being in Rome, I offer the following quick “fun facts” related to the first Emperors of Rome. These are little titbits of gossip that were reported by biased historians throughout the ancient world. Most of these little gems are reported by Gaius Seutonius Tranquillis (“Seutonius”) and Publius Cornelius Tacitus (“Tacitus”). These are what I remember about the various emperors when I recall them in order of their reigns:
Augustus, the first emperor, was married to Livia who was a right old bitch. She was suspected of poisoning anyone that stood in the way of her son (Tiberius) being named Augustus’ successor. The reason that the month of August (named after Augustus) has 31 days like July (named after Julius Caesar) is that July has 31 days and Augustus’ month could have no less and be of the same stature.
Tiberius, the second emperor, was the son of Livia by her former husband Drusus and was therefore not Augustus’ natural child. Tiberius built a pleasure palace on the island of Capri that still stands. Supposedly, he was smothered to death by his successor, Caligula, who was impatient to take the throne.
Caligula, the third emperor, was a right piece of work. He was the great grandson of Augustus and his father was Germanicus, whom he apparently helped to kill. Caligula’s grandfather was Agrippa who made the Pantheon. Caligula was a spoiled brat and believed in exercising pretty much every vice including incest with his sisters. He was eventually killed by the Praetorian Guard – which was his personal bodyguard.
Claudius, the fourth emperor, was not poisoned by any of his predecessors because he was believed to be an idiot. He had a terrible stutter and supposedly slobbered a lot when he spoke. He did, however, order the second and decisive invasion of Britain. He married his niece, Agrippinilla, the daughter of Germanicus (and the sister of Caligula). Because of the closeness of their consanguinity, he had to change ancient law in order to allow the marriage.
Agrippinilla, by the way, (which means “little Agrippina”) gave her name to the modern city of Cologne, Germany. The ancient name of Cologne was “Colonia Agrippina” – the Colony of Agrippina. Agrippinilla was also the mother of the fifth emperor Nero.
Nero was almost as bad a piece of work as Caligula. I already noted that he was supposed to have burnt down 70% of Rome in order to make his palace, the Domus Aurea. He also fancied himself an actor when being an actor was tantamount to being a prostitute (not that much different today, really). He had Agrippinilla assassinated when she tried to control him. He was also eventually killed by the Praetorian Guard.
Galba, who was the first Emperor who was not related to Augustus in some fashion, bought the throne from the Praetorian Guard. He lasted for seven months as the emperor before he was deposed in January of the faithful year of CE 69 which saw four emperors.
Otho replaced Galba when Galba was beheaded by the Praetorian Guard. Otho apparently promised to pay the Praetorians the amount that Galba had promised but didn’t pay. Otho had originally been a friend of Galba’s but had been disappointed when Galba named Calpurnius Piso as his successor. Otho lasted only three months before he was assassinated by the followers of Vitellius.
Vitellius was a noble and also an accomplished general in Germany. Vitellius had a personal enmity with and for Vespasian, who was a commoner who had become a rival general under Claudius and Nero. Vitellius had done all he could to discredit Vespasian as the conqueror of Britain where they both had served. Vitellius marched down from Germany to take the throne from Otho whereas Vespasian marched from Judea where he was fighting the rebel Jews at Masada.
Vespasian replaced Vitellius and ruled for nine years in which Rome’s fortunes were improved greatly.
I’ll leave the history lesson at Vespasian because this could go on for a long while. I know the emperors in order from the first, Augustus, to the last of the Western empire, Romulus Augustus. By the way, The Sibylline Books accurately prophesized the date of the last Western emperor – or at least Odoacer, the ruler of Italy after, Romulus Augustus made it look like the Sibylline Books had been correct. I’ll offer some interesting other facts when I next visit Rome.
I hope you all are well and happy until we meet again...
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